Pointed Discussion

Now this is what Mythic should be! Flavorful as hell, and quite powerful without being completely overpowered — a 5/5 for has been done before with Deadbridge Goliath, and that saw little (if any) play in Constructed.

It is above the curve, Monstrosity as a mechanic will be amazing as long as they are relatively incurve, I will use as my 4 drop in some Commander Deck. The ability triggered by the Monstrous ability is nice but only really exists to remove chumps. X in the Monstrous cost will be awesome in a traditional green ramp.

Basilisk Collar could potentially make his monstrosity power a whole lot more devastating.

Not everybody wants to rule the world. Some folk want to eat it.

Clearly this guy took Alduin's job after he was defeated by the Dovahkiin.

I didn't really like this card at first, mostly because the Monstrosity mechanic confused me. Now that I see him again, I really like him just because of how flavourful and green it is. For god's sake, it's a 5/5 for 4 that gets bigger and loves ramp. I can imagine him in a Standard Gruul (or Naya or Jund for that matter) Aggro/Midrange deck having fun alongside the new Xenagos, the Reveler.

I believe that he only does damage = to X, so doing his monstrous cost at 0, would be in fact 0 damage. I think his monstrous ability is too expensive. I don't think having it just be GX would have broken it. In fact, I think being able to clear the board with him would be flavorful as hell. Like a Day of Judgement. Gah!! That would have been neat. Eh well.

But aside from that I love this art and him. And being a 5/5 for 4 cmc is good by itself. And I really want to make him a commander because he's just awesome.

At first I was thinking that his damage ability was basically fight without using his original power. Then I realized it's worded a bit differently. Differently as in if Polukranos deals enough damage to the creature to kill it, that creature isn't doing any damage back. Since there's a "pause" of sorts with that period, I believe that grants a chance for state-based actions to happen.
Any rules-nuts out there who can verify this?

@BastianQoU
State-based actions are never checked until the end of something resolving.

Monstrosity is a brilliant mechanic. This is truly scary.

I love this card. I just have one complaint about it. I could be reading this wrong, but you choose the value for X when you activate monstrosity, then monstrosity resolves and he becomes monstrous. The ability has resolved, so there is no longer an "X" value. The resolution triggers the second ability, which references a value X, but this X has never been instantiated, and therefore has no value. Am I reading the card wrong, or does this card not make any sense? Obviously I understand what Wizards was trying to have the card do, but I don't think that it actually accomplishes that with it's current wording.

A very underrated card by what people have been saying about him. A 5/5 for 4 mana should never be underestimated, especially with an ability like his. I run him in a casual g/r deck in which I can normally pump around 9 mana into this guy, dealing 4 damage and making a 9/9 in the process. He's won me many games he has.

Missing Trample IMHO, but such a beast. 5/5 for 4, in green can be out as soon as turn 3, beat face, clear the board and end the game. Noice.

Why exactly can't the World Eater eat my own creatures? The ability is fully optional, even if he was the only thing on the board there would be no downside to being able to damage my own things.

"I believe that he only does damage = to X, so doing his monstrous cost at 0, would be in fact 0 damage. I think his monstrous ability is too expensive. I don't think having it just be GX would have broken it. In fact, I think being able to clear the board with him would be flavorful as hell. Like a Day of Judgement. Gah!! That would have been neat. Eh well.

But aside from that I love this art and him. And being a 5/5 for 4 cmc is good by itself. And I really want to make him a commander because he's just awesome.
Posted By: Twilly05"

See, you're missing one very, very important detail. Polukranos isn't like a Day of Judgment. Polukranos is like a plague wind.

epic creature basicly a x +1+1 counter spell with a x damage spell on a 5/5 creater with 4 cmc
wish his deck came with more hydras and hellions

Are the counters only valid for one turn?

@am802g
in this case, the X in its triggered ability refers to the same X that put the +1/+1 counters on it. someone at wizards admitted it's a bit confusing, but said they trust players to know it's checking the only defined X on the card

also,
why has no one said "combos with Gods Willing or Indestructibility" yet?

I don't get the hype around its monstrous ability.

Say you have a x/6 creature blocking you that you can't get through. So you pay the monstrousity ability to get rid of it. You'd have to pay 13 (6+6+) to deal with just one creature. That's ridiculous! Super inefficient. I guess this is only for wiping the board of small creatures.

I'd rather splash some dual lands and have Putrefy.

Don't get why people get so upset about the XX. Look at other monstrosity costs. Nessian Asp: 6G, Monstrosity 4. Arbor Colossus, 3GGG, Monstrosity 3. Nemesis of Mortals, 7GG, Monstrosity 5, cost reduced. Polis Crusher, 4RG, Monstrosity 3.

XXG is definitely no more than what you would be paying for other monstrosities, with one or two mana stacked on in exchange for making him as big as you want to. And eating the entire enemy board in the process.

Also, you're playing GREEN. If you lack the mana to murderise the opposition efficiently (and just killing three creatures, especially at instant speed, IS efficient already) you may not be playing your colour right. I stuck him in a deck that focuses on generating absurd amounts of mana (Karametra's Acolyte, to name just the worst) and then... profit. Giving him ten counters isn't rare in that deck, and I already saw 25. Okay, my deck might be a bit extreme, but as mentioned, ten (or eleven, to be exact) mana can already mess stuff up quite handily. Don't blame the cards if you can't raise the mana, change your deck. I've been told that Mythics are supposed to be "Build around me". This one definitely is.
He's a mana dump, not a money dump mythic. Deal with it.

Also, lacking Trample? (And Deathtouch, if you're a horrible person?) We have ways. Many ways.

I really like the art, and while I think the Monstrosity mechanic might need some tinkering, in general I really like it(must be my inner Timmy). However, for a big, powerful, mythic rare hydra(a tribe I like anyway), this doesn't feel quite epic enough. I don't have it and haven't played with it or seen it played, but the way it reads just doesn't get me excited about playing it like a big green mythic rare hydra should. I also think it deserves some killer flavour text.

I'll give it a 3/5 for the art and the Monstrosity mechanic.

I don't really like the card to be honest. The monstrosity mechanic alone feels clunky, and his specific monstrosity mechanic is just weird, and in my opinion, not very good, but a mana dump is cool I guess. I feel like this card is a good example of the current state of standard, because in standard this is considered a good card. It's not a very good card. That being said it's flavorful an has really great art, and it's obviously not an abysmal card, it just will never impact modern or legacy like other mythic legendaries like Geist did. So overall, 3/5.

I truly do not understand why he is rated so low... this is a GREAT foil print of a GREAT card. This guy is an absolute fixture in the current Standard meta (in the R/G or Jund Monsters decks, among others) -- and really is just a VERY solid creature no matter how you cut it. A 5/5 for 4CMC really isn't bad at all... especially in green where you can VERY easily get him out on turn 3 and have him hit a ruthless Monstrosity a turn or two later.

He's a beater... period.

im a lil confused about how his monstrosity works, when i make him monstrous, do i choose what creatures fight him?

Some say they don't get the hype around the monstrous ability and say it in reference to this EATER OF WORLDS. Well, let me help you out... POLUKRANOS + HIS MONSTROUS ABILITY + DEATHTOUCH = BOARD-WIPED. END OF STORY. It doesn't matter if you have 500/500 on the field. That sucker may kill Polukranos, but this hydra is taking that fatty and many others with him.

This card is ridiculous powerful, throwing in a caged sun and doubling cube and make him a mono green commander and watch him wipe an entire board and swing for the win, insanely powerful.

6/5 for nostalgia of being my first commander.

Green ramp, get out rouge's passage, trample, whatever means neccessary and swing for commander damage. Having a 5/5 commander on t3 and swinging for 5 keeping creatures off the board... It was a delightfully timmy and silly deck, but put enough pressure on my friends to up their early game.

Good times.